Bharathi sets 3000m steeplechase mark

September 11, 2004 21:22 IST

B L Bharathi of Karnataka set a new meet record in the women's 3000 metres steeplechase on the second day of the Standard Chartered Open National athletics championships at the Priyadarshini Park in Mumbai on Saturday.

The Karnataka lass clocked 11:07.13 seconds to win the gold on a day where the Indian Railways' athletes cornered glory, winning as many as eight gold medals, including the men's 4x100 metres relay.

Vinita Thakur of Punjab clocked 11:18.98 seconds to finish second while S Shanthi of Tamil Nadu, with a timing of 11:19.67 seconds, had to be content with third place.

Defending champion Arun D'Souza of Indian Railways won the men's 3000 metres steeplechase in 9:10.57 seconds while Ranjeeth kumar of Services and C D Basuraj of Maharashtra finished second and third place respectively.

Jincy Philip of Kerala won the women's triple jump with a leap of 12.68 metres. Tessymol Joseph of Indian Railways and Lekha Roy of Life Insurance Corporation were second and third respectively.

Krishna Mohan and Sarish Paul brought some cheer to the Services' athletes by winning gold medals in the men's 110 metres hurdles and 400 metres respectively.

Despite a slippery surface due to light rain, Gajanan Upadhyaya of Indian Railways managed to win the men's Pole vault gold with a jump of 4.70 metres. P P Jayakumar of Services and Jagbir Singh of Indian Railways had to be content with silver and bronze respectively.